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 Monday, March 26, 2001
A major goal now faces Sorenstam
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
Put the 59 out of your head for a moment.
One can only understand the type of endless birdie wave Annika Sorenstam has been on as of late by looking at her last eight rounds of golf: 65-68-67-65 and 65-59-69-68.
"I think the hardest thing," says competitor Lorie Kane, who leads the LPGA in birdies with 101, "is to go out and shoot one low round and then come back and shoot another low round."
|  | | Annika Sorenstam pumps her fist after she birdied the 16th hole during the final round of the LPGA Standard Register Ping. |
Exactly. It's the difference between fluke and true greatness. Break the 50s barrier to join Al Geiberger, Chip Beck and David Duval -- notice no Tiger, Nicklaus and Arnie? -- as the only human beings to pull it off in PGA or LPGA competition thrown in with a bunch of plus-4s and plus-5s and you're the lightning-aided priest in Caddyshack. But surround such scorecard brilliance with seven rounds in the 60s en route to winning back-to-back tournaments and you're an instant spectacle.
For Annika, that has meant "SportsCenter" interviews, magazine covers, talk of a match versus Tiger ("I love playing with guys ... I am always up for a challenge, so pick a course that is quite narrow.") and instant savior status for the entire tour. As one would expect, that's taken a little bit of a toll on the 30-year-old Swede.
"Mentally, I feel very drained," says Sorenstam, after setting or tying six tour records in winning her 25th LPGA title at the Standard Register PING last weekend. "I am very happy, but it took so much out of me. I just needed to rest a few days."
Woods has often had the luxury of taking two or three weeks off after winning a few tournaments in succession to flee to his home course in Orlando or to an unknown fishing hole. But for Sorenstam, her recent dominance and all the hoopla that goes with it has sliced west from Phoenix to Rancho Mirage, Calif., into the first major of the year -- the Nabisco Championship.
She is fully aware that whatever she has accomplished thus far (two titles and two second-place finishes to lead the money list with $411,448 to Se Ri Pak's $297,105) will become a mere sidebar that came and went if she fails to make a run at her first major championship since the 1996 U.S. Women's Open.
"This is the tournament I've been waiting for and practicing for," says Sorenstam.
Because of that, she stayed away from the course on both Monday and Tuesday to rest both her body and mind. Upon hitting the greens at Mission Hills Country Club on Wednesday, she had no problem taking on the favorite role even though Karrie Webb -- last year's Grand Dame of the tour -- is the defending champion with an impressive five top 10 finishes in six events this season.
"If they talk about you as a favorite, I take that as a compliment and I think that's a positive thing," says Sorenstam. "I do know what I have to do. I want to go out there knowing I have my game in the bag and I'm going to hit the right shots at the right time. I don't feel any pressure. It's more about excitement since I'm playing so well."
Counters an equally confident Webb: "I think with the putting, if I can put it all together, then come Sunday I will be there at the top again."
While the media has been trying to stage a Sorenstam-Webb duel (see last paragraph), Pak has been the biggest obstacle in Sorenstam's way this season. Twice in a row, Pak has pushed her in the final twosome and consequently raised the level of play.
"Let's say I had a 10 shot lead going into Sunday. Who knows what I would have done because I can say to you that I was tired," says Sorenstam of Pak's 263, just two shots behind her last weekend. "I knew that I had to dig deep and come up with the shots I needed all day with Se Ri on my tail. On the 14th hole, we were even and it could have gone either way."
"I was 25-under and still I can't win the tournament,' says Pak. "It's kind of, you know, not normal."
When it comes down to it, Sorenstam believes there is a special group of six players that are must-see TV for any golf paramour. Along with the proper scheduling, momentum and some needed luck on the greens, she credits the competition at the top for bringing out such eye-opening scores and for leaving bogey-free runner-ups like Pak left shaking their heads in awe.
"We have so many good golfers on this tour, and it's only recently that people are really catching on," says Sorenstam. "Karrie has played some excellent golf the last few years and she'll continue on that level. Lorie Kane is competitive as ever, winning four tournaments since July. Right there are four players, plus you've got Dottie (Pepper) and Julie (Inkster). That's six players who are fabulous.
"That's exciting golf and you can always bank on one of us being right there on Sunday."
For Sorenstam to reclaim the moniker of the game's greatest player that she carried several times throughout last decade when she won more tourneys (18) than any other Tour player, a title this weekend is a must. Sounding like an exempt amateur who is playing with the big dogs for the first time or a weekend hack who finally cracked 95, the eight-year vet claims her biggest enemy isn't her swing, her nerves or even the course. It's her own excitement.
"My usual problem is that I get in my own way," says Sorenstam, who now resides in Incline Village, Nev. "I get too excited knowing that I'm playing well. That's my biggest challenge -- being overexcited."
After shooting a 59 and completing perhaps the best two-week run the LPGA has ever seen with the poise and grit of a starlet, it's scary to ponder what could overrun her with excitement. Sweden winning the Olympic Gold in hockey? Too much Red Bull? PGA-type purses?
How 'bout a Nabisco Championship in her grasp on Sunday.
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online.
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